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Pilot (Overstrike)
The pilot episode for the CBS crime drama series Overstrike premiered in the United States on September 19, 2011. The pilot's teleplay was written by Paul Lovett, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick based on a story developed by Lovett, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, David Elliot and Stuart Beattie and was directed by Michael Bay. In the pilot, Former U.S. Army Ranger Marcus Santiago is given control of his own crime task force in San Francisco in an attempt to catch international fugitive Antwan Wa'Q after he murdered Santiago's former commanding officer. Almost 14.2 million Americans viewed the pilot, increasing to 17.59 million when Live+7-day digital video recordings (DVR) are taken into account, and was also considered a ratings success in other countries. Critical reactions were generally positive. Plot The episodes begins in South Aisa, with U.S. Army Ranger Marcus Santiago (Shia LaBeouf) transporting Iraq prisoner Haiku Wa'Q (). The joint convoy is ambushed by two Russian gunships. In the midst of the skirmish, Santiago is to kill Haiku after he brandishes a weapon on him. Haiku's twin brother, Antwan () calls Santiago, to announce he is holding Santiago's former commanding officer, Roger Grimes (), hostage in San Francisco, California. When he learns that Santiago killed Haiku, he responds by executing Roger. Santiago returns to California to attend his commander's funeral. There, he meets San Francisco Police Department Chief Harold James (Robert John Burke). James offers Santiago to lead a new task force to apprehend Wa'Q and clean up the criminal underworld in the state by any means. Santiago refuses however, and goes to his CO's home to investigate the crime scene. While searching the house he finds that Wa'Q has two accomplices, and also notices a metal box marked "Gold". As he takes the box, which has evidence on a case Roger must have wanted his former troop to solve, he is confronted by the lead detective in the case, Inspector-Sergeant Michael Cash (Mekhi Phifer). Despite initial friction between the two, Santiago decides to accept James' offer. At the San Francisco Police Department, Santiago appoints a reluctant Cash as his partner, as well as old childhood friend and former U.S. Navy SEAL Lance Corporal Street O'Bannon (Colin Farrell), and ex-Special-Forces-Captain-turned-SFPD-Lieutenant Declan Raines (Ben Foster). They find a lead in suspected gun runner Mike Neal; ballistics evidence suggests it came from a gun once owned by Neal. When they arrive at his house, he attempts to flee, but is killed by Cash following a standoff. Initially dismayed that Cash shot the only lead to Wa'Q, Santiago finds Hanya, a smuggled immigrant from Japan who was sold to Neal, leading Santiago to believe human traffickers smuggled Wa'Q in San Francisco. In order to find out who, the team meets Declan's friend, former police informant and current owner of an ice cream store, Kazi (). Kazi believes the snakehead leader is Hanoi Wakaki (). In order to apprehend Hanoi Wakaki, Declan decides to appoint his cousin, Jenna Sands () as a plant. Santiago, O'Brannon, and Cash turn to Lieutenant Jared Webb (), a former US Marine. He left the Marines and joined the San Francisco Police Department, but left disgraced after he was accused of corruption. After Jared asserts his innocence, Santiago offers him to join the new task force. Production Development of Overstrike began in 2007. Paul Lovett wanted the series to be set in San Francsico, but it never came to be. The project was put aside following the 2007-08 WGA strike. After the strike ended, Lovett went back to work on the series. He contacted CBS and approached them with his own finished version of the script, with the series being called CSTF: Crime Stopper Task Force. However, CBS rejected it because they felt it was too similar to CSI: Crime Scene Investgation. After being contacted by Paramount to help write the story for the film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Lovett met Stephen Sommers and Sommers took interest in Lovett's series idea. In November 2009, Lovett rewrote the title of the series as Overstrike, "giving the feeling of elite military operations in police operations". On February 19, 2011, CBS ordered the production of the pilot, and Michael Bay came on to direct. Filming began two weeks after the readthrough, on March 5, 2011, and took over two weeks to shoot. Reception Ratings The pilot aired on CBS on September 19, 2011, during the 10 to 11 pm (ET) timeslot. The pilot episode was seen by 14.20 million viewers, with a total household rating/share of 7.8/15, and a 2.8/11 ratings/share among those aged 18 through 49. The pilot came first in its timeslot, beating the fourth-season premiere of ABC crime comedy-drama Castle. However, the 18 to 49 ratings for the pilot fell ten per cent against the series premiere of Hawaii Five-0 which received a 3.9/11 in the 2010-11 teveision season. The ratings also fell ten per cent behind the fifth season premiere of Hunters which occupied the same timeslot the previous year. Ratings for the pilot was also given a significant boost in Live+7-day digital video recording (DVR); the 18 to 49 ratings/share went up to 5.0, whereas total viewership increased to 17.587 million viewers, the largest increase of the week. In Canada, the pilot aired on the Global Television Network on the same day and timeslot, and was watched by 2.136 million viewers, placing eleventh for the week. Reviews David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle said "Overstrike separates itself from the normal gimmick pack, not only because of superbly nuanced characterization and writing but also because of how it engages a sci-fi mix in its viewers." References Category:Overstrike Category:Episodes Category:Pilot Episodes